Facebook video not enough for police to arrest man in park

A video was posted on Facebook about an apparently intoxicated man loitering around the restroom and drinking fountain at Firefighter Memorial Park on Aug. 6. The man was not arrested and was told by police to leave the park, which he did. (Hubble Ray Smith/Daily Miner)

KINGMAN – A woman gave “onions” to the Kingman Police Department on Facebook for not arresting a man who was apparently intoxicated and loitering around Firefighters Memorial Park.

She posted a minute-and-a-half video on Kingman Orchids and Onions showing the man stumbling around the water fountain and restroom at the park, which is next to Kingman Middle School, gesturing toward a minor to come over to him.

“Onions to Mohave County police department for not arresting this guy and letting him walk away Scott (sic) free knowing he was loring (sic) kids towards him,” she commented in the Aug. 6 post that drew 159 comments and 75 likes.

She can be heard saying “smart kids” as they ignored the man, and recorded his slurred speech about getting a drink of water. “If I get a drink, you get a drink, too,” he appears to say.

The park is the jurisdiction of Kingman Police Department, not Mohave County Sheriff’s Office, and an officer was sent to the park. The man reportedly lived in the neighborhood, and was told to leave the park, which he did.

Kingman Deputy Police Chief Rusty Cooper said there is no law against public intoxication in Arizona.

“Always a concern about being close to a school,” Cooper said in an email to the Daily Miner. “For a disorderly conduct arrest, we would need someone to be a victim, which may not have been the case here.”